This Stuffed Pepper recipe is easy to make!
Stuffed bell peppers are filled with a zesty ground beef and sausage filling mixed with rice and baked in sauce.
Perfect for meal prep, this recipe freezes and reheats well too!
Holly’s Notes For Stuffed Peppers
- Difficulty: Stuffed peppers are pretty easy to make but take some time to prepare. Allow for about 45 minutes of hands-on prep time.
- Prep note: Depending on the size of your peppers, you could have extra filling. It’s great in zucchini boats or to fill portobello mushrooms.
- Budget tip: Replace half of the meat with black or kidney beans. You can stretch the filling further by adding extra rice or veggies and filling some extra peppers.
- Prep Ahead/Freezer: These can be prepared 48 hours in advance or prepared and frozen before baking.
What You’ll Need To Make Stuffed Peppers
These are classic stuffed peppers, and they’re versatile—swap up the spices to your liking.
- Bell Peppers: Choose any color of bell peppers. Green are more earthy in flavor, while red, yellow, or orange peppers are a bit sweeter.
- Meat: Ground beef and Italian sausage add a lot of flavor. You can use just one or the other or any combination of ground meat, including ground turkey or turkey sausage.
- The sausage adds a lot of flavors, so if you’re replacing it, add ½ teaspoon extra Italian seasoning.
- Rice: Use uncooked long-grain white rice. For other varieties, adjust the liquid and cook time as needed.
- If using cooked rice, skip the water and simmer the rice in the sauce for about 5 minutes. Brown rice should be pre-cooked.
- Sauce: Use a jar of pasta sauce or homemade marinara sauce.
- Cheese: Optional, but I love a cheesy topping. Try mozzarella or an Italian blend.
How to Make Stuffed Peppers (overview)
- Brown Meat: Brown meat, onion, and garlic (recipe below).
- Cook Rice: Add tomato sauce, rice, water, and seasonings. Cook until rice is tender.
- Prepare Peppers: While the filling is cooking, prepare the peppers by simmering for a few minutes to soften.
- Fill & Bake: Fill peppers with meat and rice mixture. Sprinkle with cheese and bake until bubbly!
Storing Stuffed Peppers
- Store leftover stuffed peppers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Reheat peppers in the microwave or stovetop in a pan with a little water in the bottom on medium-low heat.
- To freeze, line the baking dish with parchment paper (optional) and assemble the peppers as directed without baking. Ensure the filling is cooled and cover tightly in plastic wrap. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bake as directed, adding 15 minutes to the baking time.
Tasty Bell Pepper Recipes
Did you make these Easy Stuffed Peppers? Leave us a rating and a comment below!
Stuffed Peppers
These easy stuffed peppers are filled with savory sausage, beef, and rice, topped with cheese, and baked to tender perfection.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 medium bell peppers any color
- 8 ounces lean ground beef
- 8 ounces Italian sausage
- 1 small yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 14.5 ounces canned petite diced tomatoes with juice, 1 can
- 1 ¼ cups water
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- ½ cup long grain white rice uncooked
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 ½ cups marinara sauce divided
- ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese or cheddar cheese, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 9×13 baking dish.
- Cut off the tops of the bell peppers. Discard the stems, finely chop the tops, and set aside for the sauce. Core the peppers, discarding the membranes and seeds.
- To cook the peppers, bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the peppers for 5 minutes and then drain them well. Alternatively, air fry the peppers at 400°F for 5 minutes.
- For the filling, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef, Italian sausage, diced onion, and minced garlic. Cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until no pink remains. Drain the fat.
- Add diced tomatoes with their juices, water, Worcestershire sauce, rice, the diced pepper tops, Italian seasoning, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and black pepper.
- Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer, and cover. Cook until the rice is tender, about 15 to 20 minutes, adding more water if needed. Remove from the heat and stir in ½ cup of the marinara. Taste and season with more salt and pepper if desired.
- Place 1 ½ cups of marinara sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Add the peppers cut-side-up, and divide the rice mixture evenly over the peppers. Spoon the remaining marinara sauce over top.
- Cover tightly with foil, bake for 35 minutes.
- Carefully remove the foil and spoon the sauce from the bottom of the dish over the peppers. Top with cheese if using and bake uncovered for an additional 10 to 12 minutes or until the peppers are tender and the cheese is fully melted.
- Rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
Rice: If using cooked rice, skip the water and simmer the rice in the sauce for about 5 minutes. Brown rice should be pre-cooked.
Peppers: For firm to tender-crisp peppers, skip the boiling step and bake as directed. I prefer the texture when the peppers are softer. Peppers can also be pre-cooked by simmering, air frying, or baking for 15 minutes at 400°F.
Seasoning: Marinara sauce can vary in salt levels and seasonings. Taste a bit of the filling
Additional vegetables, such as diced zucchini or chopped mushrooms, can be added to the filling.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 314 | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 20g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 60mg | Sodium: 979mg | Potassium: 1039mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 4384IU | Vitamin C: 168mg | Calcium: 116mg | Iron: 4mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Dinner, Main Course
Cuisine American, Italian© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
So yummy. Get a good flavorful Italian Sausage. That can make all the difference in Italian dishes. I also used the Spend with Pennies recipe for Marinara sauce. I will make again and again.
Perfect recipe for adding finely diced veggies onion, garlic, celery parsley, .Used my own homemade tomato sauce and a mixture of shredded cheeses for topping. Thank you Holly for this recipe.
I’ve been making these for a while now!! I thought I gave a review before but here it is again! This recipe is amazing! The flavors complement each other and my husband loved them. He did not like peppers but he do now
Another SWP keeper! I meal prep so I used disposable loaf pans with 2 peppers each. I didn’t precook the peppers because I like them firm, added corn and used brown rice. Thanks for all the great recipes.
I put my peppers into large muffin tins to hold them upright. Wonderful recipe
Such a good idea!
This has been my go-to stuffed pepper recipe since I first saw it a year and a half ago and I’ve probably made it a dozen times since then. It replaced one that I made for 30+ years! Of course I make a few modifications due to our preferences. First, I halve the recipe (cooking for 2), use only ground beef, add some chopped celery in place of garlic (husband is a weirdo who doesn’t like garlic!), Use 1/2 a tomato boullion in place of the salt, use soy sauce in place of Worstershire and add about 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes. I use Rao’s marinara sauce. This turns out fabulous every time. I made these last night for dinner with mashed potatoes and my husband was still talking about how good they were this morning! Shame on me for not leaving a review sooner. Thanks Holly for a winner of a recipe!
Not sure I can do this but I made an adjustment to my post of December 30, 2024. Just made the stuffed peppers again today. Since I had a lot of already cooked leftover seasoned yellow rice (boxed Goya) I added it to the raw ground beef mixture with (1) packet of Goya Sazon seasoning and about 1/4 cup of italian seasoned bread crumbs. Otherwise, the mixture had all the other ingredients as I had posted before. Because the peppers were huge, instead of slicing off the top and stuffing it upright, I cut them lengthwise into 2 oval shaped halves, thereby getting 6 stuffed peppers from 3 huge ones. I changed the marinara sauce and used Mezzetta Marinara this time since that’s all I had on hand. Baked the same way with the parchment paper covered tightly with aluminum foil at 375 degrees for exactly one hour and served immediately. I think that these even came out better than the first comment I posted. The stuffing was perfect, very moist and the peppers tender but still firm and holding their shape.
Why do people comment with a totally different recipe that they make? Comments should be for this recipe and maybe some small changes.
When people share their ideas is can inspire creativity and help others discover new flavors or substitutions as needed. I hope you enjoy the recipe Julie!
Can this be meatless
I haven’t tried these without meat but with some finely diced vegetables and extra seasonings, it may work! Let us know how it goes!
I’ve been making these for years. Don’t par boil the peppers or cook the rice and ground chuck. I put the beef, minced onions, Muir Glenn fire roasted tomatoes, garlic and 1/2 can small tomato sauce in the peppers. The other 1/2 can tomato sauce on top of each pepper. . Bake at 350for 1 hr. 15 min covered tightly with foil.
I’ve been making stuffed peppers for years. I also don’t par boil the peppers or cook the rice and ground beef. My seasonings are similar to yours except that I also add some dried italian seasoning blend to the beef and rice mixture. I don’t put tomato sauce in the beef mixture, I use a good quality jar of marinara sauce (Dell’Amore) and pour all of it over the peppers. I use 80/20 ground beef. I lay a sheet of parchment paper on top of the stuffed peppers and on top of that a sheet of aluminum foil and cover tightly with foil. I bake at 375 for 45 minutes. I then remove the parchment/foil and bake for 15 uncovered. I find that by using the parchment paper the filling stays very moist and beef and rice are cooked perfectly and the peppers come out perfect, firm but still tender with no wrinkly skin. Baking uncovered at the very end just thickens up the sauce a bit. Plus if you want to add cheese on top, this is when to put it on.
delicious! Only two adjustments made 1) I cooked Spanish rice separately and added it to cooked mixture before scooping into peppers. 2) Used spicy marinara and spicy diced tomatoes for a little kick!
So easy and delicious!!
Delicious – I add twice the rice with little extra water, as needed. I double the recipe, except for the green peppers and freeze the extra half of the filling to make fresh stuffed peppers later.
very good I added a little fresh chopped basil and used my fresh homemade marinara sauce. Definitely a keeper
Yours, is my favorite go-to for recipes. And one of the very best is stuffed peppers. I live alone and I often will bake them in loaf pans.
Thank you for this great site! Nancy
Awww….your review brought back a sweet memory for me. My mom always made her stuffed peppers in loaf pans too. I had forgotten. She also made stuffed pork chops in a loaf pan using regular pork chops and her homemade stuffing. She stood them up and used the full pan alternating the meat and stuffing and it was a beautiful presentation. I always thought she was so clever with those! Thanks for the reminder of my dear mom!
Brilliant. I took your suggestion and baked mine on a loaf pan. great recipe and the loaf pan made clean up so easy!
I replaced the 17oz diced tomatoes with 2 10oz cans of rotel tomatoes with green chilis! Juicy and a little spicy! My hubby said best he’s ever had